Fire guts Serpong market

TANGERANG (JP): At least 72 stalls in the Serpong traditional market were gutted in a fire on Tuesday night. No fatalities have been reported so far.

One of the traders, Muhidin, said the fire was first spotted in a stall owned by Ayong at around 8:30 pm.

"It was possibly caused by an electrical short circuit," he said.

The fire spread quickly to other stalls. It took dozens of firemen using 13 fire engines until 3 a.m. the following morning to extinguish the blaze. Fire fighting equipment belonging to the nearby BSD and Alam Sutera housing estates was also brought to the scene.

The authorities are still calculating the value of the damage caused, but preliminary estimates put it at millions of rupiah.

Head of the Tangerang market management office Suryana said yesterday that his office would erect temporary stands to accommodate stall owners whose property was damaged in the blaze. (41/cst)